The Electric Factory Wins SXSW Innovation Award for AR Bedtime Storytelling Experience, ‘Read to Me’

Global innovation group The Electric Factory  has showcased its ingenuity and proved its stature among the world’s top tech giants by garnering the 2018 SXSW Interactive Award in the Innovation in Connecting People category for its product, “Read to Me”. Beating out such notable contenders as Microsoft’s Hands-Free Music Project for the SXSW prize, “Read to Me” revamps the time-old tradition of bedtime storytelling by leveraging a unique, Internet of Things approach to Augmented Reality.

Bridging the gap between the physical and digital space, “Read to Me” serves as an AR solution that allows the audible reading of tangible books to trigger projected illustrations and animations via an IoT-connected product, which comes in the form of a stylish, 8-inch lamp. According to The Electric Factory Co-Founder/Chief Creative Officer Juan Ciapessoni, whose company was also recently recognized as a Top 5 Independent Agency for Latin America by El Ojo de Iberoamerica (Latinspots), “Read to Me” is intended to refresh, not replace, the bedtime reading experience through the use of modern technology. “We’re not getting rid of physical books. The key is still the books, the parents and their children but now coupled with digital elements,” he says. “We’re changing the way we consume content through bedtime stories, building a human connection between kids and parents while delivering unique, memorable experiences.”

While the first iteration of “Read to Me” features standalone content that’s conveyed through a lamp, The Electric Factory will soon add a more compact, white-label app that can connect to multiple devices and is open to publishers and parents alike. “We want to build the app so any publisher can add their content through an app to the device, which could be a game changer. Also for parents, we want to give them the ability to download their own sound libraries and animations to customize their stories and enhance the imagination of their children.”

Ciapessoni says that “Read to Me” further reflects The Electric Factory’s increasing focus on creative innovation and problem-solving. “As we evolve, our company is not only solving problems through digital production and IoT, integrating everything from the concepting to the execution, but we’re also creating our own products and accelerating startups through prototyping and testing. ‘Read to Me’ is just an example of where great ideas can come from. We want to solve problems, even without a brand or client, and then drive business from there.”

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About The Electric Factory:

From platforms to interactive experiences, whether experimental or for clients, The Electric Factory has assumed the role of evangelist by producing results that exceed industry standards. Energy courses through us. Sparked by our curiosity and imagination, and channeled through hard work and optimism, we focus this energy into our lives and our work. We are electric.